League Play-Off

Old Trafford
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Bắc Ninh's Lý Hieu Ngan played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nguyễn Chi in the 3rd minute of play. 4 minutes into the match, Sài Gòn's goal looked a bit too open when Bùi Cuc came free, but Lưu Thuyet reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 16th minute, Nguyễn Chi ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Lý Hieu Ngan was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-2. Bắc Ninh's Lý Hieu Ngan played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nguyễn Chi in the 21st minute of play. 27 minutes into the game, Nguyễn Nhật Minh cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 1-2. Lưu Thuyet was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. After 34 played minutes Sài Gòn got a freekick which was hit by Nguyễn Duc. In the 45th minute, Nguyễn Chi had to leave the field with a concussion. In the 47th minute, Phạm Tuan hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Trần Teo blasted a shot towards the goal in the 48th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Lý Hieu Ngan having to make a save.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Bùi Chi to make the kick off. Lý Hieu Ngan showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Bùi Chi, who was totally free with the ball in the 52nd minute. In the 53rd minute, Sài Gòn's Nguyễn Duc dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-4. Lưu Thuyet showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Bùi Cuc in the 59th minute of the match. In the 62nd match minute, Bắc Ninh was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by La Bay to maneuver through the defense. Lý Hieu Ngan took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Huỳnh Dung, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Lý Hieu Ngan was a little too slow when Trần Teo got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 65th minute. The score was now 1-5. An unexpectedly hard shot by Bùi Chi in the 69th minute of play forced Bắc Ninh's goalkeeper Lý Hieu Ngan to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Bùi Chi did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 1-6 to the left of a surprised Lý Hieu Ngan 71 minutes into the match. Bắc Ninh's Lý Hieu Ngan proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 75th minute of the match, managed to save Bắc Ninh from getting a goal against them. Nguyễn Duc took the ball and in the 76 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Lý Hieu Ngan. Lý Hieu Ngan dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-7. Nguyễn Nga sent away a hard shot on goal in the 79th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Lưu Thuyet showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Bùi Cuc, who was totally free with the ball in the 84th minute. When Sài Gòn's Bùi Chi in the 86th minute got a chance for a shot 86th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Bắc Ninh's goalie prevented a goal. In the 88th minute Bùi Chi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Lý Hieu Ngan saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 92 minutes into the game, Huỳnh Dung was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Sài Gòn's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Bắc Ninh the free kick. The supporters of Bắc Ninh booed when Sài Gòn was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 92 match minutes in a wonderful position. Huỳnh Dung didn't get a good kick on the ball. When Nguyễn Duc fell near the penalty area in the 97th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Sài Gòn's protests and gave Nguyễn Duc a yellow card for diving instead. A collision led to Sài Gòn getting a freekick after 97 minutes play. Nguyễn Duc hit a great ball. Bùi Cuc took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 98th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Lưu Thuyet. Sài Gòn's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. The Bắc Ninh fans had already started to leave before the final whistle blew. Sài Gòn were clearly better and deserved to take the win.